Lionel Messi is the highest-paid player in MLS, with an annual guaranteed salary of $20.4 million, according to the MLS Players Association. The Argentine World Cup winner is earning more than the entire payroll of 25 MLS clubs in USA.
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This figure only includes Messi’s salary. According to Spanish news outlet El País, Miami co-owner Jorge Mas has revealed that Messi’s total salary, which includes his share of the Apple TV deal with the league, is between $50 and $60 million.
Messi’s midseason addition to the Herons’ top-paying trio of Sergio Busquets ($1.775 million), Jordi Alba ($1.25 million) has put the Herons atop the MLS salary leaderboard with a total guaranteed compensation of $39.419 million. That’s more than double the team was spending at this time last year ($18.88 million).
Messi’s guaranteed salary is the highest in the history of MLS, beating out Toronto FC’s Lorenzo Insigne, who is second on Wednesday’s list at $15.4 million. Chicago Fire’s Xherdan Shaqiri ($8.15 million), the LA Galaxy’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez ($7.44 million) and Toronto’s Federico Bernardeschi ($6.3 million) round out the top five.
The acquisition of Lionel Messi has contributed to an increase in MLS Player Average Guaranteed Base Compensation of 5.5%, compared to the September 2022 level of $514.729. Additionally, the median GBC for players at the lower end of the salary scale has seen an increase of 13.4%, rising to $282.125 from $248.688 in September 2022.
Toronto FC came in second to Miami in terms of guaranteed base compensation (GBC), with a total payroll of $32.293M. Los Angeles Galaxy came in third with $25.039M, followed by reigning MLS Cup champion LAFC at $20.841M and the Chicago Fire at $20.416M.
The MLS standings leading up to Decision Day indicate that the top three spending teams in the league, Miami, Toronto, and the Galaxy, will not be participating in the playoffs. The sixth-highest spender, Austin FC, is the only other team in the top 10 to be eliminated from the playoffs.
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